I missed Street BBreaker's second show last night, so I'm sitting here promising to get to their photos I shot at their first show a couple weeks ago... I've been over my head with wedding photos to edit, and I've been spending a lot of time shooting two other short documentaries, so I'm a bit backed up.

Eliana & James approached me about shooting their wedding video later this year, but first I got to shoot their engagement photos. The forecast said rain, so I had the idea of going to the Castello di Amorosa because I knew we'd be able to find a few places to shoot under cover...I've shot there before and I have a great relationship with a few of their staff members...

We had a quick wine tasting, and the mood was perfect for some loving engagement photos. The rain never came either, so we had tons of spots to shoot. This turned out to be one of my favorite engagement sessions to date, and I'm looking forward to shooting their wedding film in a few months!

I have the privilege of shooting the wedding of some friends of mine whom I've shot their family photos for in the past. Their wedding was tons of fun, and seemed like the perfect end-of-summer event. They have an awesome personality, and some of the photos I couldn't even post online because of how ... personal... they were. Here are my favorites from the day.

My friend, Sean Ledbetter, was telling me about the beautiful phenomenon at Horsetail Falls in Yosemite National Park. If the conditions are just right, the last few minutes of light from the sunset illuminate a waterfall to make it look as though Lava is pouring down the cliff. My response to him was, "Let's go! I can put the trip on my credit card and you can pay me back!" A couple days later, we had a hotel reservation and we were going to make the trip!

Yosemite is absolutely beautiful. The two of us geeked out with our cameras and how Mother Nature was providing us with the most beautiful landscapes for us to capture for 3 days. We had each rented some lenses, and were just super excited to be out and about.

I was asked to shoot the wedding of dear friends of mine. Alex went to high school with my sister, and was class president in his senior year. A couple years ago, I happened to snap a very quick candid portrait of the two lovebirds in passing at the Apple Blossom Parade in Sebastopol. They ended up loving the picture, and had me shoot their engagement photos. That went so well, that they asked me to shoot their wedding. They didn't even have a date set yet, but I committed to them, because our relationship was basically the ideal photographer/client relationship. Everything happened so naturally and relaxed. Their engagement photos are still some of my favorite ever, and it all happened casually over a bottle of wine. Alex is a wine maker, so he knows what's good to drink!

Fast forward until a few months before their wedding, and they changed gears on me. I had originally agreed to be their wedding photographer, but now they wanted me to shoot their wedding video. They also told me that they would likely not be able to afford to fly my second shooter down to Mexico, so they were asking me if I would be able to shoot it by myself. I reluctantly agreed, but I'm glad I did, because this short wedding film came out as one of the best videos I've ever produced, period. And the fact that I didn't everything with my own two hands, makes it feel so much better, and I'm pretty proud with what I came up with.

I had the pleasure of shooting Brit & Jen's wedding in January of this year. I know them through mutual friends, and I just think of them as really fun, outgoing party people! Brit was even an officiant at a wedding I shot last summer, so we knew it would be a good match.

The forecast called for rain on their wedding, but it was set in a wooden lodge type of venue, and it would be perfect for a winter wedding. We lucked out, actually, and didn't get hardly any rain at all the whole day, and the sun actually burned through the clouds when I was shooting the group photos outside!

It was an incredible wedding, and everyone there had the time of their life!

I was lucky enough to shoot the maternity photos for one of my favorite families I shoot photos of. Amanda was about a week away from her due date, so we got together to shoot portraits at the local pumpkin patch in Petaluma. I looked up their info online, and they weren't quite open yet for the season, so I contacted the owner to see if I could get permission to shoot. He didn't mind at all, and personally came to meet us at the farm. The story behind the photos, and the photos themselves, make these some of my favorite family portraits I've ever shot.

I got together with a family that I've shot portraits of for years, this time to shoot their newest daughter's 1st birthday cake smash! I have shot portraits of their family and their other daughter's portraits at this spot every year for the last few...in fact, I use a portrait of their first daughter from this location on the back of one of my business cards! These photos are super cute, so the tradition continues!

Bryona and I met online and wanted to get together for a boudoir shoot. We shot these in the comfort's of her own bedroom, and it was a safe place where we could both feel comfortable and get to know each other... We got a bunch of great photos, some of which will be published in November 2015

I had the privilege of shooting Monica & Aaron's wedding earlier this summer... It was during the outrageous fires that were burning in Lake County, so I remember the heat and the smoke. The one thing I seem to always remember about weddings is the weather; or maybe just the temperature. They were all HOT this year!

Shooting their wedding was pretty special. She had expressed interest in me shooting her wedding practically since we met maybe a year earlier. I had always casually told her that I would be there to capture their special day. It was nice when the time came for them to get married, and I was still on track to capture it all.

It was a beautiful summer day. Their love for each other is amazing. Everyone was telling stories of how deeply they are in love, but it was still a light, fun wedding.

A couple weeks ago I had a cake smash shoot with an adorable little guy on his first birthday. I have shot portraits of him before, so it was cool to see him again and see how he would handle his awesome "Cookie Monster" cake.

If the photos tell us anything about how his day went, I'd say it was his best birthday ever, and that he absolutely LOVES cake!

I was lucky enough to wedding of a long time friend of mine up in Oregon near the Hood river. It was a beautiful wedding with lots of really special people in attendance. I saw a lot of people from high school, and some parents of kids growing up... The wedding destination was breathtaking, so they ended up with some really amazing photos.

They also had the brilliant idea to strap a GoPro camera to a bottle of Fireball whiskey, so I also edited that footage together into a fun little montage... Enjoy!